Pink: Gratitude & Sympathy
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day eighty-six: COLORS #2 Terri & Quinn talk for the first time after all the dust has settled.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a second cycle, and then a third and fourth cycle. Now here comes cycle 5!_

_Found this list I had a while back, of colors and connotations, and I decided to make a series around it! So...  
**Colors of Glee: 2 of 12:** Pink: Gratitude & Sympathy_

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**"Pink: Gratitude & Sympathy"  
Terri & Quinn**

They hadn't seen each other in weeks, not since all the developments… truths, separations… they hadn't even bothered to talk to one another; they knew the arrangement was off… It just couldn't be anymore. Still, they knew that one of these days, the moment would present itself where they would happen to run into each other again. They still lived in the same town.

There had been a few near misses. It was fair to them both that, just because they saw the other – and if the other did not see them – it did not mean they were obliged to reveal themselves. Quinn had seen the ousted Mrs. Schuester at the drugstore. She'd ducked behind the magazine stands and waited for her to leave before coming out again. Terri had seen the mother of her would-be-baby on the street, waiting for the bus, in a store, shopping for maternity clothes… She couldn't let her see her. What could she possibly tell her?

They had gone and avoided the inevitable for about as long as they could hope for. Eventually, it had kind of… left their minds. Not thinking about it had then given chance the freedom to bring them together.

Quinn had just left her latest doctor's appointment. Hungry, and with an afternoon to herself since she'd missed school that day, she'd gone into the diner nearby. She'd sat in the booth, taken the menu… and then she'd heard the crash of a plate falling and breaking on the ground. She'd looked over to the source of the sound.

The waitress crouched over the mess, and when Quinn looked back up, she locked eyes with the woman sitting in the booth on the other side of the waitress.

Terri stared back at Quinn, both of them wondering how to proceed. Finally deciding they might as well get through it, Quinn gave a short nod, indicating the seat across from her. Terri felt herself sigh with some relief as she stood, taking her coffee with her over to Quinn's table. She set it down before taking a seat. She looked to the girl, who was presently looking at her glass of water. After an awkward moment of silence, she finally looked up to Terri once again. She wasn't sure what to say, so Terri got the ball rolling.

"How've you been? How's…" she looked down to Quinn's belly.

"Fine," Quinn nodded. "Both of us," she assured her. Terri smiled.

"Good, that's good."

The silence was going to take them again. The waitress had come by just at the right time. They ordered their meals, and once the waitress was gone, Terri and Quinn looked back to each other.

"I am… so sorry, for how things turned out. I swear, I never wanted it to end up like this," Terri spoke slowly, looking back at her. Quinn just stared for a moment.

"I wasn't exactly in any place to talk about dishonesty," she spoke after a gaze back down.

"I'm pretty sure I had you beat," Terri looked into her cup. Quinn had a quick little smile, then she felt bad and it went away.

"I'm sorry too," Quinn spoke up. "I know it's not the same as you and Mr. Schuester, but… I lost someone too, I know… it sucks… so much…" she shook her head.

"It really does…" Terri agreed. "I was with him… since we were fifteen years old. Everyone thought I was a little crazy…" She and Quinn looked to one another, and she gave a small shrug, acknowledging… "I was, I… I am." She paused again, tapping her index on the edge of the cup. "But Will, he didn't care… I think he actually found it sweet… for a while." She was lost in thought for a moment. "I liked the way I felt when I was with him." Quinn looked at her… she knew what that was like. "I'd actually found someone who was everything I could only dream of…"

"He loved you," Quinn nodded slowly. She took no care to the past tense. She'd be aware of it.

"I was so scared of waking up without him next to me… I lost my head." After a moment, she looked to Quinn. "And then I went and dragged you into it…"

"Your sister's kind of scary." Terri absent-mindedly nodded at that. "But I don't think I could have made it through some of that time if I didn't have you there." Terri looked up, touched, eyes welling up with emotion.

"Yeah?" she asked with a shaky smile.

"Yeah," Quinn nodded with a smile. "It was more important than I realized at the time; I figured that out once it was all done." Terri just nodded to her with a smile. "Do you think… people can ever forgive each other?" she asked, wearing her hope right in front of her.

"Oh, honey." Terri reached out to take Quinn's hand. "I don't know… I mean all I could dream would be that Will could ever let me back in… I don't know if it'll happen… but I let myself wait for it." Quinn wasn't sure how to take this, but she just nodded.

When their food came, they ate quietly. Terri paid for them both, and they parted ways. For all the fear they'd had about meeting up again, they'd both come out of it for the better.

THE END


End file.
